The New York Liberty, founded in 1997 as one of the WNBA's original franchises, is favored to take home its first championship in team history.
At ESPN BET, New York opened as the -290 favorite Wednesday to win the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx, who are +240 underdogs to prevail. The Lynx are seeking their fifth title in franchise history and first since 2017.
The odds for Thursday's Game 1 in Brooklyn opened at multiple sportsbooks with the Liberty as consensus 5.5-point favorites. Minnesota went 3-1 straight up and against the spread versus New York during the regular season.
The Liberty entered the 2024 campaign with high expectations and +245 odds to win the season's championship, second only to the Las Vegas Aces (+100), whom they defeated in the semifinals. Entering the postseason, New York had the third-most bets and handle to win the title at ESPN BET, but were nowhere near as popular as the Aces or Indiana Fever, who themselves brought in over 45% of the wagers and money at the sportsbook.
As a result, sportsbooks have liability concerns with New York but significantly less than if Las Vegas or Indiana were playing for the title. BetMGM confirmed as such and added that over 50% of bets placed for this season's champion were on one of those two teams.
The Lynx, meanwhile, entered the season at +5000 to win the championship and were as long as +7500 at one point during the offseason. Since 2019, the longest preseason underdog to then reach the WNBA Finals was the Phoenix Mercury at +1000, according to ESPN Research.
New York's Breanna Stewart opens as the Finals MVP favorite at +110, with teammate Sabrina Ionescu just behind her at +200. Minnesota's Napheesa Collier, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, shows +260 odds to win the honor. The next closest player, New York's Jonquel Jones, comes in at +3000.